Texas State professor Delgado named Greater Texas Foundation Fellow

Posted by Jayme BlaschkeUniversity News Service June 13, 2014

Melissa Delgado

Melissa Y. Delgado, assistant professor in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Texas State University, has been named a Greater Texas Foundation Faculty Fellow by the Greater Texas Foundation.

The fellowship is a three-year program to build research and teaching capacity of tenure-track faculty at Texas colleges working in areas related to student success.

"I see my experience as a GTF fellow as being beneficial in several important ways,” said Delgado. “In the short term, I will be able to carry out a research study that will not only give me the opportunity to demonstrate my research capacity as a principal investigator but also provide rich data for advancing the work in my field. In the long term, I will be able to further develop a research agenda to support my tenure and promotion process and my future endeavors obtaining a large-scale grant.

"Further, I will be afforded a mentor with key experiences who can provide the scaffolding for leading a successful project while being instrumental in my teaching," she said. "The benefits of the fellowship program will also extend to the institution itself, providing Texas State University an opportunity to demonstrate its level of support and commitment toward junior faculty research and career goals."

As a GTF fellow, Delgado will receive up to $30,000 per year for three years to support her research agenda within the Department of Family and Child Development aligned with the foundation’s mission to support postsecondary preparation, access, persistence and completion for Texas students.

"Only one in five Texas students completes a college credential within six years of graduating from high school," said Wynn Rosser, GTF president and CEO. "GTF Fellows is creating a network of highly talented and committed Texas researchers working to understand barriers for students and identify solutions to help more Texas students succeed at the postsecondary level."

Selected fellows were invited to participate in a competitive proposal process in which they were required to demonstrate significant potential in and commitment to a career in research and teaching at the postsecondary level. In addition, applicants were required to identify a mentor to assist them throughout the three-year fellowship. Nancy Chavkin, Regents Professor with the Center for Children and Families at Texas State, will serve as mentor for Delgado.

About the Greater Texas Foundation

Greater Texas Foundation is a statewide education grantmaker, based in Bryan. The foundation’s mission is to support efforts to ensure all Texas students are prepared for, have access to, persist in and complete a postsecondary education. GTF puts particular focus on helping underserved and disadvantaged populations. GTF pursues its mission by forming partnerships, supporting research, sharing knowledge, and making grants. From 2001 through 2013, the foundation’s grantmaking totaled nearly $42 million from more than 495 grants.